During Training Camp Head Coach Rick Tocchet said he was already pleased with the Canucks’ penalty kill. Two games into the season, the PK has held steady, helping Vancouver to a 2-0 to start.
Over those two games the Canucks PK allowed three goals on the Oilers’ 11 power play opportunities.
“I liked our penalty kill. They did a great job,” Tocchet said after the second meeting with Edmonton. “We gave a free bee there, but we killed that five-on-three...I think the penalty kill’s been a big key for us this year.”
Vancouver saw improvements in the PK with Tocchet at the helm for the final 36 games last season. The Canucks went from a PK success rate of 65.9% in the first 46 games to 78.4% in 36 games with an overall season average of 71.6%.
Tocchet said bringing Ian Cole, Carson Soucy, and Teddy Blueger into the fold in the offseason added “instant credibility” to the PK.
“The guys from last year they’ll tell you Ian Cole’s got a great PK mind at anticipating, knowing where the shot is coming from, and he’s not scared of blocking shots,” he said.
Cole is logging the most shorthanded minutes per game (3:56) thus far, and with Soucy a game time decision for the game against the Flyers and Blueger week to week, eight of 10 Canucks with the most shorthanded minutes are returnees.
Player
SH TOI/GP
Ian Cole
3:56
J.T. Miller
3:35
Filip Hronek
2:55
Quinn Hughes
2:53
Elias Pettersson
2:47
Tyer Myers
2:27
Phillip Di Giuseppe
2:09
Noah Juulsen
1:59
Dakota Joshua
1:57
Sam Lafferty
1:37
Pius Suter
1:01
Akito Hirose
0:23
Anthony Beauvillier
0:18
Brock Boeser
0:05
Injecting PK specialists with returnees has helped them be successful in special teams situations as the players with systems knowledge help their quick-study counterparts. With seven penalties in the second game against the Oilers, Tocchet acknowledged it can be challenging mentally and physically to have to sit and watch your teammates battle, but he was pleased with the team’s resiliency.
“Even just as simple as telling a guy ‘Hey you have time’, or ‘Get it in deep’, that gets you in the game. I give them a lot of credit,” he said.
Elias Pettersson felt Vancouver’s special teams could improve, mentioning they’ll need to spend some time in the film room going over the details.
“It was ok, I still think we can be better. I wasn’t in place, gave them a few looks,” Pettersson said. “Goalies are making a lot of saves so we need to help and box out.”
Pettersson, who was the NHL’s second star of the week, played on various lines on Saturday, logging time with all of his teammates. He accumulated six points (1-5-6) over two games for Vancouver and he’s been open to mixing up the lines he plays on.
“We were laughing, I told him ‘You played with every player on the team,’” Tocchet said. “He’s got a bunch of wingers for situational hockey, obviously him and Millsy, I think those two guys on the PK are really good together. Him [Pettersson] moving more on the power play, we’re getting the puck in his hands more and I think that’s what’s helped our power play too.”
